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Selected Verse: 2 Kings 7:1 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| 2Ki 7:1 |
King James |
Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the LORD, To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
ELISHA PROPHESIES INCREDIBLE PLENTY IN SAMARIA. (2Ki. 7:1-16)
Hear ye the word of the Lord--This prediction, though uttered first to the assembled elders, was intimated to the king's messengers, who reported it to Jehoram (Kg2 7:18).
To-morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, &c.--This may be estimated at a peck of fine flour for 2s. 6d., and two pecks of barley at the same price.
in the gate of Samaria--Vegetables, cattle, all sorts of country produce, are still sold every morning at the gates of towns in the East. |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
The division between the chapters is most awkward here. Elisha, in this verse, replies to the king's challenge in Kg2 6:33 - that his God, Yahweh, will give deliverance in the space of a day. On the morrow, by the same time in the day, the famine will have ceased, and food will be even cheaper than usual.
A measure of fine flour - literally, "a seah of fine flour;" about a peck and a half.
For a shekel - About 2 shillings 8 12 d.
Two measures of burley - Or, "two seahs of barley;" about three pecks.
In the gate - The "gates," or "gateways," of Eastern towns are favorite places for the despatch of various kinds of business. It would seem that at Samaria one of the gates was used for the grain market. |
| Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
| Elisha announced to him the word of the Lord: "At the (this) time to-morrow a seah of wheaten flour (סלת, see at Kg1 5:2) will be worth a shekel, and two seahs of barley a shekel in the gate, i.e., in the market, at Samaria." A seah, or a third of an ephah = a Dresden peck (Metze), for a shekel was still a high price; but in comparison with the prices given in Kg2 6:25 as those obtained for the most worthless kinds of food, it was incredibly cheap. The king's aide-de-camp (שׁלישׁ: see at Sa2 23:8; נשׁען למּלך אשׁר, an error in writing for נשׁ המּלך אשׁר, cf. Kg2 7:17, and for the explanation Kg2 5:18) therefore replied with mockery at this prophecy: "Behold (i.e., granted that) the Lord made windows in heaven, will this indeed be?" i.e., such cheapness take place. (For the construction, see Ewald, 357, b.) The ridicule lay more especially in the "windows in heaven," in which there is an allusion to Gen 7:11, sc. to rain down a flood of flour and corn. Elisha answered seriously: "Behold, thou wilt see it with thine eyes, but not eat thereof" (see Kg2 7:17.). The fulfilment of these words of Elisha was brought about by the event narrated in Kg2 7:3. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| Measure - Heb. Seah, a measure containing six cabs, or about a peck and pottle of our measure. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
To-morrow about this time - This was in reply to the desponding language of the king, and to vindicate himself from the charge of being author of this calamity. See the end of the preceding chapter, Kg2 6:33 (note).
A measure of fine flour - for a shekel - A seah of fine flour: the seah was about two gallons and a half; the shekel, two shillings and four-pence at the lowest computation. A wide difference between this and the price of the ass's head mentioned above. |
18 And it came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be to morrow about this time in the gate of Samaria:
33 And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the LORD; what should I wait for the LORD any longer?
3 And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?
17 And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spake when the king came down to him.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
18 In this thing the LORD pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon thy servant in this thing.
17 And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spake when the king came down to him.
8 These be the names of the mighty men whom David had: The Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite: he lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time.
25 And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver.
2 And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying,
33 And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the LORD; what should I wait for the LORD any longer?